Ken - Martial arts master known as the Fist of the North Star. Not only can he perform clothes bursting sequences reminiscent of the Incredible Hulk, anything he punches explodes, including people.

Ray - Powerful fighter whose style cuts enemies to ribbons. Searching for his kidnapped sister, after finding her he tries to take on Raoh. Ray is not with us at the end of the movie.

Julia - Ken's true love, taken prisoner by Shin then Raoh.

Bat and Lynn - Two kids, she has special powers enabling her to grow plants even though the world is an arid wasteland. Mostly I have been wondering about parents who would name their son "Bat."

Ryuukin - Father to Ken, Jagi, and Raoh. His ideals and knowledge might be among the most noble, but only one kid turned out to be anything except a dangerous megalomaniac. Killed by Raoh.

Shin - The Fist of the South Star. Betrays everything sacred in his desire to possess Julia, though first being pummeled by Raoh and then finished off by Ken is probably ample punishment.

A Limitless Supply of Fodder - Thugs, bandits, and giants. Despite their own strengths and weaknesses, like being large enough to make Richard Simmons cry or transforming their skin into metal, all are destined to meet gory ends. Zendah falls into this category.

Jagi - Ken's brother, a previous argument between the two led to the mutilation of his head. The second encounter proves to be a very messy affair.

I tend to wax nostalgic when thinking about this film, but what young lad wouldn't? First off - it is (decently drawn) Japanese Animation, secondly - people get punched then explode into fountains of guts and blood! Forget the Internet and television, how did our parents make it growing up without this movie?

All that and an acceptable plot too, which we will now go into more detail about (for some reason I imagine you all cowering under tarps like the audience at a Gallagher show). As so many other films here the movie begins with a nuclear war devastating mankind and the Earth in general. Even though many large buildings are destroyed (including one with a oil tanker through it) I would like you to ignore the large amount of unbroken windows in evidence. This is secondary to more important plot points, like the development of martial arts that cause massive trauma to anyone struck.

Yeah, what about that? I honestly don't know, though that fact does not tarnish my joy at watching Ken glow with power as he stomps a hole in someone the size of Goliath. Or squeeze some guy's skull in, can't forget that.

In his quest to rescue Julia from Shin our hero encounters Bat and Lynn, which proves fortunate since the little girl has a green thumb. Unfortunately the seeds which everyone hopes will save the world appear to be weeds and annuals to further the insult. Terrific, the last darn photosynthetic organism on Earth and it's a weed.

Besides this the movie has fighting, lots of it. Plenty of people getting punched, smashed, or cut into pieces. Whether it is Ken defending a town against marauding bandits or Raoh leading his armies across the dusty wastes, you're going to see some messy stuff. I recommend this film to people who like over the top splatter.

On a final note, try counting the number of times someone says "Fist of the North Star." I gave up around twenty.

Things I Learned From This Movie:

Eyes are more resistant to damage than muscle and bone.

People are little more than pressurized sacks full of blood and intestines.

After a nuclear war the Aurora Borealis are really spectacular.

A dirt buggy is fully functional and the occupants unharmed after plummeting twenty stories.

If some guy makes things explode when he hits them then (for crying out loud) don't let him punch you in the forehead.

Fat guys are just like tar babies.

Trying to kill a woman's boyfriend is not the best start to a relationship.

Sometimes not having rhythm is fatal.

Stuff To Watch For:

4 mins - It is the middle of a nuclear war, why are you idiots walking around?

20 mins - RANDOM ACTS OF VIOLENCE AGAINST REFUGEES!

25 mins - Want to know what I'd do after seeing some guy knocking down skyscrapers with punches? The phrase is "run like a little bitch."

33 mins - Zendah seems to change size...

46 mins - RANDOM ACT OF VIOLENCE AGAINST A WALL!

48 mins - You have to admit, fatboy had a lot of guts. Okay, no more puns this review, I promise.

Zendah: "Refuse me and the girl will be the first to die." Villager: "If we give up you'll most likely kill us all anyway." Zendah: "Maybe so, but if you don't I'll break this kid into pieces and stuff her down your throat."

Ray: "Quit stalling Raoh, come on!" Raoh: "Death shouldn't be rushed, one should savor it like fine wine and enjoy it's aroma. But if, in consideration of your impatience, I must kill you now - so be it."

I can say only one word: great. Fist of the North Star is the greatest anime that was made. It's not only the violence and the blood that makes it so good. You have a clear and simple plot that can everybody understand, but it's not negative that it's so simple. The story is an utopia of a near future that could everyone imagine, world was devasted by a nuclear holocaust, this is not an impossible scenario. I mean there are a lot of films with easy stories, think about Star Wars, Alien and so on. No one would say these are terrible and boring films.

And there is another fact that makes the movie so unique. It's the langugage. There are so many cool verdicts that are legendary. I don't know about the original one, which is in Japanese of course, but I think it's great too. I'm a big fan of this anime and I can only advise you to watch it. It's a legend.

Absolutely one of the greatest movies of all time. Probably one of the only animation movies on this list. If you like, or respect in any way, japanese animation then you have to see this all time classic.

After this movie was released in Japan there was literally an enormous public outry because this movie was marketed toward young children. And we all thought that disney had its bad moments...

I've only seen the Japanese version of this movie all the way through (along with the TV series and manga), but I've seen enough and know enough of this one to realise the hilarity of some of the dubbing in it. I mean, the Japanese version is comical simply because of the subject matter, but when you add terrible dubbing to that you get 100% more laughs. I especially like "Say your goodbyes lardass, coz you're already dead." and Raoh telling Rei that death is like a fine wine which must be savoured: "You smell that, Rei? That's the smell of death!"

As for people saying this has terrible animation, I don't know what you're talking about. I think it's excellently animated and very detailed (unlike the TV series), however it is inconsitant, if that's what you're talking about: Zeed grows fifty feet for no apparent reason. But that's anime for ya!

Hey man, I liked your review and I think you should do one of the live action Fist of the North Star movie, that is if you have seen it. Thanks for reading.

I do have the live action film in my collection, and will review it sooner or later. Have actually held it in my hands a few times, ready to take it to the DVD player and start a review, but I've always stopped myself and looked for something less painful. Not a good movie.

Of course, to do "Fist of the North Star" right as a live action film you would need gallons of stage blood and lots of fake body parts flying everywhere. In other words: quite a bit of SFX money and talent. I don't think the people who made the live action version had much of either.

I do have the live action film in my collection, and will review it sooner or later. Have actually held it in my hands a few times, ready to take it to the DVD player and start a review, but I've always stopped myself and looked for something less painful. Not a good movie.

Good on yer, andrew. There's something just that much more depressing about an awful movie which was based on something awesome, isn't there!